Please help. My Castle Vale lawyer is advising me that she is duty bound toapply for Castle Vale conveyancing searches asthe firm are on the Santanderapproved lawyer panel. Do I not have any options here?

You have limited options available to you. As you are obtaining a mortgage with a lender your conveyancer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your solicitor would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your lender’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook requirements . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Castle Vale conveyancing searches.

Will conveyancers request money up-front for conveyancing in Castle Vale?

If you are buying a property in Castle Vale your solicitor will request that you put them with funds to cover the search fees. Ordinarily this is requested to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. When the deposit is payable against the purchase price then this should be required shortly ahead of contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is due should be sent to your lawyer a couple of days prior to the completion date.

I am buying a property and the solicitor has referenced Chancel Repair for which the property may be liable as it falls into the area of such a church. She has suggested insurance. Is this strictly required for conveyancing in Castle Vale

Unless a prior acquisition of the premises took place post 12 October 2013 you can expect conveyancing practitioners carrying out conveyancing in Castle Vale to remain recommending a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.

Last September I purchased a leasehold property in Castle Vale. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Castle Vale Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying

On the whole the outlay for major works are not wrapped into the maintenance charges, although a few managing agents in Castle Vale obliged leasehold owners to contribute towards a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major repairs or maintenance. Most Castle Vale leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the building set on behalf of the landlord. Where you acquire the property you will have to pay this amount, usually quarterly throughout the year. This may vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common areas. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge to be met annual, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant figure, say approximately £50-£100 but you need to check as sometimes it could be prohibitively expensive.

What can I do to establish who is the owner of a property in Castle Vale?

Provided the premises is recorded at the Land Registry, and you have the information of the location of the premises, you should be able to view details from the the Land Registry of the recorded proprietor for a fee.